Research and analysis

Soil screening values for assessing ecological risk

Guidelines for screening the risks to soils from chemicals released through the landspreading of waste-derived materials

• From: Environment Agency
• Published: 8 November 2017
• Last updated: 19 January 2022 — See all updates

Documents

Soil screening values for assessing ecological risk: summary

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PDF, 134 KB, 2 pages

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Soil screening values for assessing ecological risk: report

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PDF, 941 KB, 68 pages

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Soil screening values for assessing ecological risk: tool

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MS Excel Spreadsheet, 567 KB

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Details

This project has produced guidelines for screening the risks to soils from chemicals released through the landspreading of waste-derived materials.

The project reviewed the available evidence on the direct terrestrial ecotoxicity and potential for secondary poisoning of 38 chemical substances and mixtures, including 23 trace elements and 15 persistent organic pollutants. Although there were insufficient data to derive an assessment criterion in all cases, soil screening values are recommended in the report for 9 trace elements and 8 organic pollutants. A spreadsheet tool allows the screening values to be adjusted for site-specific soil properties.

The soil screening values developed through this project will help the Environment Agency to better review the technical suitability of landspreading proposals submitted by an operator for a wider range of chemicals.

This report was updated in January 2022 to correct the evaluations for polychlorinated alkanes (medium chain-length), hexachlorobenzene, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulphonate and triclosan.

Published 8 November 2017
Last updated 19 January 2022 + show all updates

1. 19 January 2022

   This updated report corrects the evaluations for polychlorinated alkanes (medium chain-length), hexachlorobenzene, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulphonate and triclosan.

2. 5 January 2022

   This updated report corrects the evaluations for polychlorinated alkanes (medium chain-length), hexachlorobenzene, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulphonate, and triclosan.

3. 8 November 2017

   First published.